


When Charlie Met Danny

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Firestarter, The Shining - Stephen King
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 21:59:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4154553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie is miserable, lonely, and all she has is her power. She's ready to give in to it, when a voice in her head gives her strength.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Charlie Met Danny

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place, before 'Doctor Sleep'. Perhaps Danny doesn't remember it ever happened, but I'm sure Charlie does. All the characters in this belong to Stephen King. I just really wanted them to meet.

It was coming. The black out, the eclipse Charlie McGee has sensed she could cause, when she was eight. Eight years later, it was coming. The power within hissed, wanting to do it, wanting to black out the sun. Never mind how many people would die, without its light.

“I can’t stop it,” she whispered to her father’s spirit, her mother’s ghost, even to John Rainbird. Everyone who’d loved her, who’d ever tried to stop her. “I just can’t.”

*Yes, you can.* The mental voice was young, soft, as it whispered into her thoughts. Charlie looked around. No one stood in the glade with her. The voice, however, continued to whisper. *You can stop it, if you really want to.*

“Who are you?” she asked, out loud. A moment later, she spoke, mind to mind. *Where are you?*

*I’m somewhere far away, but I can sense what’s about to happen.* It was a boy’s voice, a boy not much older than herself. *You don’t want to block out the sun, do you?*

*No.* The old anger at being controlled, manipulated was rising in Charlie McGee. Only this time, it was the power itself, trying to manipulate her. It played upon her loneliness and despair. The addictive pleasure of it was all she had. She hated that! *I don’t want to hurt anyone, just because using this makes me feel good.* The naked truth of her words was humilating. It revealed to the voice what a junkie she truly was. Willing to do anything just to get a fix of not feeling miserable.

*Then, don’t.* There was no condemnation in the boy’s voice at the admission of her addiction. Just a deep sorrow, almost equal to her own. *Push the darkness back, as you always have.* There was a simple faith in those words. As if the boy knew she could do this. Charlie McGee could fight her power and master it, the way she always did. It made her a little stronger, a little less willing to wimp out and give in.

*Back off!* Charlie commanded the darkness. Pressure was building up inside her head, making her temples throb, as she pushed the power back. Using the power was fun, addictive, but pushing it back was not. Charlie wondered if this throbbing headache was like the ones her father used to get. Only Andy McGee had gotten them from using his power. Charlie McGee got them from stopping herself. *BACK OFF!* The pressure continued to build, as she pushed it back, but it was so hard! *BACK OFF!*  
The pressure lightened, as a second will wove with hers, adding his mental strength to her own. The boy helped her, held her steady, as she pushed, taking on some of the pressure himself. Charlie could feel him, his silent, trembling, but not inconsiderable strength, pushing along with her. It shouldn’t be possible, but he was in her head, sharing her power and her pressure, pushing, as if they stood side by side, pushing at the huge, invisible force, which was the Bad Thing. Together, they pushed the badness back into the darkness.

*BACK OFF!* He chanted the words at the same moment as she did, mind to mind, as they shoved with all their mental will. Suddenly, it moved. The darkness was breaking off, moving away. Charlie stared up at the sky, the patches of blue, which were reappearing.

*Thank you,* Charlie said, mind to mind to the strange boy, no, he was no longer strange. She could almost see him, standing, looking up at the sky as well. He wore a blue polo shirt, which was the same color as his eyes. Rumpled strawberry blonde hair fell over his face, as he looked down at the ground, as if something in the earth had distracted him. *Thank you, Danny.*

*You’re welcome, Charlie.*


End file.
